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CRTC increases the diversity of voices in the Montreal market

OTTAWA-GATINEAU, December 20, 2012 — Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved a new multilingual television station to be called International Channel/Canal International (ICI). The CRTC also approved an application by Rogers to acquire CJNT, an ethnic television station, and authorized it to convert the station to an English-language station.

“These two television services will increase the diversity of voices in the Montreal region,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC. “The English-language community as well as over 18 ethnic communities will benefit from these two new services.”

ICI will provide programming in at least 15 different languages, including Romanian, Mandarin, Creole, Persian and Portuguese. It will devote 14 hours per week to local ethnic programs.

CJNT will increase the number of Citytv stations, which will enable Rogers to broaden its national coverage. The station will broadcast 15.5 hours of local programming per week, which is 1.5 hours more than what is generally required by the Commission. It will also broadcast a morning program directed at the Montreal community that will include local news.

Today’s decisions are a follow-up to a proceeding that included a public hearing on November 7 and 8, 2012 in Gatineau.